1. Technical Field
The present invention is related to a method and system for managing user privacy and, more particularly, to managing and enforcing privacy of user data in a network environment.
2. Art Background
With the growth of electronic communications, interaction and commerce, privacy has become a major concern, particularly since more people are relying on their portable devices to maintain personal and confidential information. Generally, the privacy issue can be separated into two aspects, namely visibility and awareness.
Visibility of an object means that the environment can recognize the object and interact with it as needed. Visibility is a means of informing other objects about the existence and possibilities related to the object. The manner in which the object is perceived and understood is dependent on its visibility, and the object's visibility impacts other objects' visibility. For example, as the visibility of the object increases, the openness of communications by other parties with it increases as well as the ability by such parties to provide greater personalized service. On the other hand, increased visibility also places the object at greater risk, such as disclosing too much information in the wrong circumstances or disclosing information to the wrong objects. There is a need to provide objects with greater control over their visibility.
Awareness is the counterpart of visibility. The awareness of an object is a direct or indirect consequence of the other object's visibility. Awareness is limited to the information provided by the other object. As with visibility, there is a need to provide objects with greater control over their awareness by other objects.
Various consumer studies indicate that people have become increasingly concerned about their personal data in a networked environment, such as the Internet. Particularly, people feel that they have lost control of how their information is collected and used, and would like to regain control over their information. For example, once personal information is disclosed to another party, control of the information is relinquished to the receiving party. As such trust plays a major factor in how much information one party is willing to provide to another.